Consumer Preferences for the Attributes of Sunflower Oil: An Exploratory Study with Conjoint Analysis

Abstract

Sunflower oil is the most preferred liquid vegetable oil by consumers in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to reveal the order of important attributes, affecting sunflower oil preference, namely brand, production method, country of origin and price. Different levels were defined for the attributes such as manufacturer and cooperative levels for brand, organic and conventional levels for production method, domestic and foreign levels for country of origin and ₺21, ₺26, ₺32 levels for price attribute. The data obtained from face to face interview with 211 consumers selected through convenience sampling method were evaluated by conjoint analysis. The preference order of these four attributes and their levels are listed as follows: domestic origin, price of ₺21 for 5 litre, organic production and manufacturer brand. Although the topic is very important, sunflower oil in term of marketing concept has not been studied sufficiently. This study is expected to present a point of view to differentiate products to the players in the sector living in an intense competition.